The present invention as disclosed in the paragraphs which follow is utilized in an inspection and cutting apparatus such as what is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,702. The contents and teachings of this previous patent is incorporated by reference herein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,702 addressed a perceived problem then existing in the industry relative to the processing of elongated articles such as sliced potatoes which are utilized for frozen french fries, and wherein the elongated articles were first aligned in moveable, transversely spaced lanes, and then passed beneath individual lane oriented electro-optical cameras for inspecting the french fries for defects. In the previous prior art arrangements, if defects were detected one or more knives on a rotating cutting wheel was projected or propelled from the cutting wheel to cut or sever the defect from the article. Various U.S. patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,543,035 describe such earlier devices. Still further, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/066,790, and which was filed on Apr. 24, 2011 also describes an improved device for achieving the results described, above. The prior art as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,702 has been widely embraced by the food processing industry, and has operated with a great deal of success over the years.
While the apparatus as described in this prior art patent has operated quite reliably for several decades, there have been perceived shortcomings which have detracted from its usefulness. Chiefly, two perceived shortcomings have become evident through the continued use of the earlier mentioned apparatus. Firstly, and only occasionally, individual cutter knives employed in the apparatus as described in the previous patent, when rotated at predetermined operational speeds, occasionally would prematurely move or be ejected to a radially outwardly extended cutting position and then engage the elongated food product being processed without being intentionally deployed or actuated by the cutting apparatus. This premature deployment, or movement of a cutting knife to the radially extended cutting position could occasionally cause the knife to become damaged. In addition to the foregoing, the cutting knives employed, to date, have been fabricated from various materials and due to normal wear and tear, and routine operating conditions, such prior art cutting knives have occasionally broken, and have needed to be replaced. This type of wear related failure is typically expected, from time-to-time, in devices of this type. However, depending upon the product to be inspected and cut, the replacement of these damaged cutting knives can sometimes be time consuming, and inconvenient during typical food processing operations. Still further, another problem attendant with the prior art devices, as utilized heretofore, is that, on occasion, such cutting knives have not deployed at all in view of an adverse amount friction or other conditions existing within an associated knife guidance track which defines the path of travel for the individual cutting knives.
While various solutions have been suggested to address the foregoing problems, the premature deployment or the failure to deploy a cutting knife during routine food processing operations has been perceived to be a problem which has not found an acceptable solution.
Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide a cutting knife which avoids the detriments associated with the individual prior art references while providing the benefits associated therewith.